Thursday, September 13, 2012

Libya Attacks and Foreign Policy

This week there was an attack on the US Embassy in Libya where the US Ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans were killed along with a handful of Libyans.  The Embassy was attacked after an American made film that mocked the Islamic prophet Mohammed was released in Libya.

This event brings up the question of foreign policy into the presidential debate.  A president, as commander-in-chief, is the head of our foreign policy apparatus.  He uses the informal power of speeches and crisis manager to deal with these issues.  He also uses the formal powers of his office of appointing ambassadors, meeting with foreign dignitaries, and commanding the military to conduct foreign affairs. 

What should the president do about the attack on our embassy in Libya?
Is foreign policy an important issue to you as a voter?  Why?

(Please respond to this post by September 23.)

12 comments:

  1. In my opinion, I think the president is doing all he can really do. It wasn't an act of war by the Libyan gov't. The video of Mohammad should be taken down, if it hasn't been already. It goes against their religion to depict Mohammad in media, so we shouldn't do it either.
    As a future voter, foreign policy is important, as it is what helps maintain peace outside of our borders. However, I don't think our government put enough stress on domestic policies.

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  2. There isn’t really much to do since this is a public issue where U.S soldiers and an ambassador whom were unfortunately involved in this incident. I believe that there should be an investigation onto who[m] caused this tragic incident and bring him/her/them to justice. I believe in foreign policy since there has to be a way for nations to be able to solve their affairs because all negative influences can result into a drastic era, like the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which basically was the spark that caused Europe to collapse into WWI.

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  3. I think the president should of course take down the video. There is nothing more the president can do to make this "right". Foreign policy is very important in voting. It determines our safety hear in the US. Also a lot of money is put into foreign activities so depending on your opinion of how much should be spent would greatly effect your choice.

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  4. well the attack to the American embassy was not led by terrorist or the government so we should not take revenge.The libians were really offended because Mohamed is sacred to then so it is understandable that they would be upset.The only thing that the President should ask is for the people in the mob to be incarcerated for life.I t is important to have good foreign relashionships.As a voter i would like to see who of the two candidates will be more capable of having good foreign policies.


    Ezri Loy

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  5. We should respect people’s beliefs and the video needs to be removed by the command of the president.
    I think that our government should be more prepared when events such as this occur, although they are doing what they are able to do.

    Foreign policy is important because it concerns our nation and the people’s safety. Nations must settle their affairs in an orderly fashion.


    -Mariah Franco

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  6. Embassys should be prepared for things like that to happen. It is important to have posts in foreign countries, so they must be protected from people who don't want them there. The president should investigate the origin of the attackers and if it leads to a large terrorist group than persue it.

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  7. In my opinion the president cant declare war, since the government of Libya didn't organize this attack or know that it would occur. He can't send troops to Libya to execute these people because that would alot of money and possibly cause problems with the Libyan government. The best thing he can do in my opinion is apologize for the offensive movie and honor those who died.

    -Haley Harvick

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  8. In my opinion, I think the president is doing all he can do. We have our rights protected by the constitution which involve the freedom of religion. The libians are reacting defensively to the video because they are feeling disrespecting. Mohammad is very important to them; like Christ is very important to the majority of Americans. I understand why the Libians are reacting the way they are because any one else would be defensive towards their religion.
    Danielle Hazlett

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  9. The President should look into what to do about this. Innocent human beings were killed during this and thats unacceptable. Yes we should have never put the video of Mohammed up because it goes against the Muslim religion but us putting a video up shouldn't result in innocent human beings dying. The President need's to find who did this and try to do something about it, people need to know that for everything they do there can be a consequence for that. Foreign Policy is important to me as a voter. It helps us keep a balance and control on global relationships. If we didn't have a stable foreign policy with other countries Americans could feel scared and unsafe.

    -Cody Palazzola

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  10. I think in order to gain control of the situation, they need to take down the video and we need to issue an apology about the video to Libya in hopes of calming down some of the people who started riots over the issue.
    Foreign Policy is a very important issue because it helps us remain safe and try and keep peace in the world.
    -Ashley Petersen

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  11. The president should look into what exactly was said in the video, and also apologize on behalf of his Americans to create some sort of peace with them. And honestly, I don't know or understand foreign policy that well so I can't really say if it is or isn't important to me. I'd like to know more about it and understand it however because so far it seems as if it would be important to me.
    -Elisa Flores

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  12. What could we possibly do ? is the president suppose to wage war on Libya in retaliation for the deaths? lets look at this as history repeating its self. sept 11 Th we went to war in retaliation. look at us 11 years later. we can't afford to get involved any more with any other foreign countries. We cant keep putting our men&Women on the front line and spending tax payers money in other countries. we need to fix our problems here at home before we can fix problems abroad. we need to start backing off these countries and maybe they wouldn't feel so pressure like were taking over or invading there homeland. when the power of love over comes the love of power the world will know peace. truly killing for peace doesn't make sense. we need to be more hands off and try to fix our alliances by saying were here if you want our help.

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